The h Bar

1:24 PM

@Alenanno Congratulations to your "constituent-badge", I hope you'll keep having fun contributing to Physics SE ... ;-) Cheers

Alenanno

1:47 PM

@Dilaton Thanks, it's my intention to keep contributing. If I can, I will.

Dilaton

2:03 PM

@Alenanno cool :-)

Alenanno

Congratulations for your badge too, I think it's your first, right?

Ron Maimon

2:47 PM

Larian LeQuella banned me from skeptics, he is a terrible mod, he is without any physics knowledge, and should not be voted for. I don't even know how the primary phase ended with him on the list.

Manishearth

There were no primaries. You only have those if there are 10 candidates

Alenanno

@RonMaimon When there are less than 10 candidates, you skip primaries.

Ron Maimon

Ok, but how do you make it known not to vote for someone. Larian LeQuella is probably the single worst mod on the network.

Can I inform somebody?

Manishearth

Comments in the nomination phase. Which is over...

Ron Maimon

Where's the place where we ask the candidates questions.

Manishearth

2:51 PM

@RonMaimon Not really.

Alenanno

@RonMaimon Apart from saying it in chat as you do, or what @Manishearth says , no, there simply are no available ways.

Ron Maimon

This is not really a good idea then.

Manishearth

@RonMaimon Physics THC--check meta

Ron Maimon

How can we be sure the election is fair?

I think Larian LeQuella will end up moderator without anyone voting for him except trolls from other sites that don't like me.

This is why democracy is no good.

I voted for 1. Qmechanic, 2. MKB, 3. Manishearth (only because these names are familiar to me from being here a while, and they aren't Larian LeQuella). How many new mods are we getting now?

Manishearth

2

Alenanno

2:54 PM

Yes and David said he might be resigning in the future.

So there will be four mods.

Alenanno

3:06 PM

@RonMaimon By the way, the place where you ask candidates question is under the nominations in the nomination phase.

Ron Maimon

I do not trust this. There should be a vote against somebody. Larien LeQuella is a disgusting human being, and one is not allowed to say so, as it violates personal attacks. This is why democracy doesn't work.

I don't need to ask Larien anything--- he is incapable of reading or thinking.

I am saying again, this is not a good idea. The election will be rigged and Larien will win.

Alenanno

16 mins ago, by Ron Maimon

Where's the place where we ask the candidates questions.

You asked that, I was answering to that.

Ron Maimon

I know--- I wasn't responding.

Alenanno

Got it.

Ron Maimon

I was just saying that I don't believe this is a fair election. These elections are like Soviet elections. The party inserts candidates and inserts voters.

This is how people such as Larien LeQuella become mods elsewhere.

Mad Scientist

3:13 PM

@RonMaimon You know that there is a reputation minimum for voting? Someone that was never active on Physics can't vote in the election

Ron Maimon

I don't trust this kind of democracy. We are a small enough community for a completely open ballot, where people place their nominations, we vote up or down next to their name, and leave comments.

Yeah, yeah. It takes 2 days of answering "this mass on a lever is moving how fast" to get 300 rep.

Alenanno

@RonMaimon That's exactly what happened.

Users self-nominated, other users commented and now they're open to voting.

Ron Maimon

Where did it happen? I mean that the election should use the same voting system as the site.

Manishearth

@RonMaimon The comments phase is over. The voting phase is only for >10 candidates. STV is the most non-gamable voting system I've seen till now, so that's what they use for the election

Issue with voting is that some people just go with the crowd

Ron Maimon

Ok, are you sure? I am pretty sure we will end up with Larien as our new mod. His only purpose in running is to ban me from the site. This is not an exaggeration.

Manishearth

3:15 PM

They see a +10 and they say "Hey, this looks good. No need to read it, I'll vote up"

Ron Maimon

How would anyone know what the crowd is doing? It's not like it's discussed on TV. This is why the democratic process requires openness. I don't understand the point of secret ballots here.

Alenanno

@RonMaimon For what it's worth, the voting mechanism will be available for public check when the election is over... If I'm not mistaken...

Dilaton

@Ron There will be a Townhall chat but unfurtunately I will be asleep then. But be sure that I'll moven heaven and hell and make noise that shatters the whole multiverse if somebody tries to ban you from Physics SE ...

Manishearth

@Alenanno Yes, it is

Ron Maimon

Where is the place where I can downvote Larien?

And upvote Qmechanic, manishearth, and the others?

Alenanno

3:16 PM

@RonMaimon You cannot "de-vote" someone in an election, not even in real life.

Manishearth

@RonMaimon They show the vote tallies in the end. Not who voted what

Ron Maimon

Not that!

I meant the place where they wrote their platform.

Some question with their platform with voting next to it.

Alenanno

@RonMaimon Yes, blame English for lacking the contrary of "to vote". :P

Ron Maimon

and discussion.

I would like an anti-vote too! I don't know why that is not useful.

Manishearth

@RonMaimon physics.stackexchange.com/election/2?tab=nomination

Ron Maimon

3:17 PM

There should be a "-1" vote, but that's a separate issue. I asked about it on meta.

Manishearth

Discussion^^

Alenanno

Because in election you express your preference, not your dis-preference. Which happens in real life elections too.

Manishearth

@RonMaimon Well, STV (the mechanism behind the election) isn't made for de-voting

Ron Maimon

DO NOT VOTE FOR LARIAN LEQUELLA!

I don't know how to say it, he is a walking disaster.

Please, also I cannot comment on the election anymore, I missed this discussion.

DO NOT VOTE FOR LARIAN LEQUELLA.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

I am sorry for the personal statements. But this is what true elections are like.

How can one say this somewhere where it will get read?

Other than meta, I did that already.

Alenanno

Well, there aren't many places.

Dilaton

3:25 PM

Dear @RonMaimon I've starred your concernces such that they keep visible in chat. Please try to calm down a little bit, I think we physicists will not let it happen that you get banned from Physics SE. And if somebody does it, I will move hell and heaven, as said ... you know I am able to ;-)

user1504

3:37 PM

@RonMaimon: Please do not vote for MKB. He claims to be a theoretical physicist, but can barely write coherent questions, and hides behind 'civility' if you call him on this. See the discussion on my nomination here: http://physics.stackexchange.com/election/2?tab=nomination He is not the right candidate for you. (I suspect you have him confused with the current moderator, mbq, who's excellent.)

If you want to vote for someone who thinks the truth is more important than status, I can vouch for Chris Gerig. (I'm also in the running, but vouching for my own honesty is logically imp…

bmike

3:49 PM

@RonMaimon That's a strong statement to accuse the community/stack exchange process of rigging an election.

Jaydles

@user1504, @RonMaimon, and everyone else: Please reign this in to CIVIL critiques of candidates. I left most of your criticisms in the interest of an open discourse, but I deleted the ones that resort to offensive name calling and clearly personal attacks.

If you want to criticize specific behavior by an individual, go for it, but any more expletive-laden name calling or broad personal insults won't be tolerated.

Bernhard

@RonMaimon I don't know this guy, but his contribution on the election page did not convince me anyhow. Also, I would vote on people that have shown some activity on Physics.SE, and then there are more than three better candidates in my opinion.

David Zaslavsky

For people who may not have known Larian LaQuella: he is a current moderator on Skeptics.SE and was also a pro tem moderator on Astronomy.SE before it was absorbed by Physics.

John Rennie

Wow, who'd be a moderator. I'm surprised you have time to do any moderation after pulling all those knives out of your backs.

Manishearth

Hey @JohnRennie :)

John Rennie

4:00 PM

Hi.

Dylan Sabulsky

Morning all. looks like a heated discussion.

John Rennie

Can I just say I'd rather stick a red hot knitting needle through both testicles than vote for Manish.

Then connect an HT source to the needle.

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Uhh why? :\

Ron Maimon

I was banned from speaking and I might be banned again.

Grace Note

@RonMaimon I understand your concerns but please don't go and edit your stance into the actual valuable Q&A content of the main site.

Ron Maimon

4:02 PM

Larien LeQuella is moderator on skeptiics.

He has banned me there.

John Rennie

@Manishearth Oops, that was supposed to be ironic. Maybe the flagellation of the candidates has gone so far that i risk being taken seriously!

Grace Note

I'll be the one running the Town Hall Chat. You have my word that you will not be silenced by anyone unless you fall afoul of the rules of the event.

Ron Maimon

I am not stabbing him, I am saying don't vote for him. He believes in sourcing requirements, and will end open discussion of the literature on this site.

The sourcing requirements means one cannot say "this paper is wrong".

And this is the main nice thing about this site--- it serves as a commentary to double-check results in the literature.

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Oh lol. I thought so too, we've always had constructive interaction. Just....the rest of the stuff in chat (and my inactivity for the last few months) made me confused

@JohnRennie Also, HT source? Ow.

Ron Maimon

Larien Lequella thinks I am a crackpot. He does not understand science.

He does not have any knowledge of physics, and he must not be moderator on this site.

This is not a stab in the back, it is a warning.

I am not convinced that this election will be entirely fair, and Larien LeQuella has the openly stated goal of removing "jerks and wingnuts"

I am a jerk, and I am a wingnut.

John Rennie

4:04 PM

@Manishearth I was going to work the LHC in there somewhere as well, but ran out of ideas. It's probably just as well.

Heidar

Does anybody know in what sense MKB is a "theoretical researcher in high energy physics"? At the age of 23...?

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Oh oh question for Bio.SE--what happens when you do that? Are there any studies? Maybe a graph with frequency of death vs voltage!

Ron Maimon

THis is what this site is making possible--- allowing jerky wingnut commentary on the literature that is technically accurate. This is what Wolfgang Pauli required of physcists.

MKB is not a physicist.

Elections cannot be held with civil discourse. That's the Soviet way.

John Rennie

@Manishearth I'd like to see you get ethical clearance for that experiment :-)

Ron Maimon

Elections can only be held with no-holds-barred discourse.

user54412

4:05 PM

Hi all

Ron Maimon

That means you are allowed to pointedly criticise the candidates.

Crazy Buddy

Hi... Me too

Manishearth

@JohnRennie :P

Dylan Sabulsky

Morning @ChrisWhite

user54412

@RonMaimon I think everyone here will do their due diligence in researching the candidates

Ron Maimon

4:06 PM

Larien LeQuella is not a competent moderator. He believes in sourcing requirements, and is authoritarian. He does not respect the openness required of science.

No they won't.

This is why I am saying it.

user54412

In this chat I hope

Dylan Sabulsky

@man

Ron Maimon

He is very popular on the comments to the run-up, and has won elections before.

Manishearth

@DylanSabulsky Yeah?

Dylan Sabulsky

@Manishearth @JohnRennie you guys are funny

Ron Maimon

4:07 PM

He will not be number 1, but I think he will be number 2.

Dylan Sabulsky

:3

Manishearth

@DylanSabulsky :P

dmckee

Skeptics has, in fact, a sourcing requirement agreed by the community there...

Ron Maimon

This is not really funny. Larien LeQuella is a terrible person, and a terrible moderator, and you must not vote for him. He has banned me from skeptics, he has deleted knowledgable answers which conflict with the literature.

John Rennie

I think I have a pretty good idea of the candidates' approach from seeing their contributions over the last year or so. I'd be wary of voting for anyone who I didn't have that much experience of.

Dylan Sabulsky

4:08 PM

I agree with Ron, I think he might be 2 for good or for worse.

John Rennie

In any case there will be five mods, so any single mod isn't going to have free rein.

Ron Maimon

Skeptics has sourcing, and this means that you can't say "oil isn't dead plants" even though it ihas sources.

No, it's not true. He will delete all my answers, one by one, as soon as he can, quietly.

This is how the bad mods work.

Dylan Sabulsky

I agree with John, there will be many mods for a checks and balances type of effect.

dmckee

..without going and finding a source...

Ron Maimon

They secretly close and delete.

Heidar

4:08 PM

@RonMaimon I don't think so either, I don't understand how he has been able to claim he is a theoretical physicist without anybody protesting in the nomination stage.

Ron Maimon

There is no checks and balances!

user54412

btw where can I find the mechanism for how voting works? What's with this 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice business?

Manishearth

@RonMaimon Just a note: there's a log of all mod actions, and we can always check them

dmckee

...by, say, looking at the references at the bottom of the wikipedia article. Oh! The effort!

Ron Maimon

Please, you can't vote for Larien LeQuella.

Grace Note

4:09 PM

@RonMaimon There are checks and balances.

Ron Maimon

There are none.

He will destroy the site.

Manishearth

Single transferable vote

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or unused votes are transferred according to the voter's stated preferences. The system minimizes "wasted" votes, provides approximately proportional representation, and enables votes to be explicitly cast for individual candidates rather than for closed party lists. It achieves this by using mult...

Ron Maimon

I have seen this at work on philosophy. One mod can do anything basically.

user54412

@Manishearth thanks

Dylan Sabulsky

@ChrisWhite you go your inbox, should have a note in there to lead you to the page. read through the list of candidates and pick your 1,2,3 choice

dmckee

4:10 PM

Yes. We can. And everything we do can be reverse. And mods have been kicked out for misbehavior.

Crazy Buddy

Sorry guys. But, Is the pre- town hall chat going on now? Everyone is talking about election. Isn't it?

Ron Maimon

The voting system is designed to that the Larian LeQuella's win the "number 2 spot". These people get in power this way, and shut down sites.

Dylan Sabulsky

@cra

Manishearth

@ChrisWhite You give 1st pref to the one you really want to be a mod, second to whoever you sorta want, and so on

Dylan Sabulsky

@CrazyBuddy lol pretty much

Ron Maimon

4:10 PM

No they haven't.

David Zaslavsky

@CrazyBuddy this is our regular chat session, yes.

Manishearth

@CrazyBuddy Well, it's the Physics chat session...

David Zaslavsky

I guess the topic is the election today

dmckee

The voting system was devised long before any of the current candidates stepped up.

Ron Maimon

Mods do not get reprimanded for deletion of answers that they can make up answers for.

Aarthi

4:10 PM

@RonMaimon This is untrue.

user1504

@Manishearth: Let's be more precise: You vote for QMechanic, then you choose another candidate.

Ron Maimon

The voting system is set up Soviet style, not by design but by accident.

Manishearth

@user1504 Lol :P

John Rennie

In any case, I would have thought there were two obvious choices based on proven contributions to the site, and I don't think either have maimonicidal tendancies.

user54412

"maimonicidal" LOL

Ron Maimon

4:11 PM

Exactly the problem --- everyone votes for qmechanic, and then the "other candidate" vote is the only real election, the vote is split, and Larien wins, because he has a lot of other friends on the network.

Manishearth

maimonicidal? LOL

Ron Maimon

Please, you need to elect moderators individually not on masse.

Crazy Buddy

@DavidZaslavsky Oh... I see that. I know the chat session time. But, I was wondering why guys are talking about election? - which made me think this is a pre-poll :P

David Zaslavsky

@CrazyBuddy well, chat sessions are about whatever people want to talk about that week.

user54412

@CrazyBuddy any physics of interest today?

David Zaslavsky

4:12 PM

@RonMaimon that's what STV does, you know

Ron Maimon

But even if you elect them en masse, you need to make sure that there aren't so many that the vote is split like this. There is no way in which the community wants Larien LeQuella as a moderator, but he might get number 2, and he will delete all my answers one by one as unsourced.

Grace Note

I can probably shuffle off a lot of this stuff to a separate room, if you guys think that it is disruptive to your normal Physics talk.

Ron Maimon

Please do not vote for Larien LeQuella. I am sorry for repeating myself, but people come here all the time.

DO NOT SHUFFLE, please. How are you supposed to have an election without this kind of thing?

Crazy Buddy

@ChrisWhite No Chris, I just came by to see what guys are talking? - like everyday :D

Ron Maimon

I have to go to work.

Manishearth

4:13 PM

@GraceNote Our normal physics talk is 1/2 about the site in general, 1/4 about current physics, and 1/4 about random stuff

user54412

I have no objections to the way things are

David Zaslavsky

@GraceNote you think we should make this not about the election? I suppose that might be an okay idea.

Dylan Sabulsky

@RonMaimon by Ron! Have a good day

*bye

Crazy Buddy

@RonMaimon Well, Bye then Ron

JNK

Larian is bad, and will delete all Ron's answers, and the election is a conspiracy to get Larian elected. Is there any evidence for any of this?

Manishearth

4:13 PM

@DavidZaslavsky Seconded

Grace Note

@DavidZaslavsky I don't know, it's your call. I'm just here to help with what is needed if it is needed.

If, as Manis notes, this isn't actually irregular to talk about the site, then that's fine.

dmckee

Personally I wonder how many people will honor Ron's insistence by voting for Larien.

Ron Maimon

The evidence is that he did this on skeptics.

JNK

@RonMaimon ...where there is a site policy about sourcing claims?

Ron Maimon

The evidence is that he has madecomments saying I am a crackpot.

David Zaslavsky

4:14 PM

@GraceNote yeah, normally discussion about the site is appropriate for these sessions, so I think it's okay

Ron Maimon

There is no site policy, it's new.

The site policy was challenged immediately, and people like Larien LeQuella forced it through.

The sourcing requirement makes it impossible to do honest discussion of the literature.

Crazy Buddy

@Manishearth: Hey Manish, Grace is also calling you as "Manis" :-D. Maybe you have to insert a space over there (in your name)

JNK

it's in the FAQ but this is not the skeptics discussion

Ron Maimon

You can't say "these papers are bogus because of this and this and this", because you get slapped with "citation required".

Manishearth

@CrazyBuddy I know... I once CamelCased my name, but that got overwritten in my last rename. I may change it later :)

Ron Maimon

4:16 PM

The problem is that Larien LeQuella is a terrible skeptics mod who enforces the sourcing requirements with deletion of knowledgable answers that contradict the literature. That's everything I have written here on physics. He will do the same here, this is guaranteed, and the number of candidates will split the vote so that he will be number too.

Manishearth

Hey there @ColinMcFaul :)

David Zaslavsky

Yep, hi @Colin

Ron Maimon

Larien LeQuella is a terrible mod. Vote Manishearth for no 2.

Grace Note

@Manishearth Oh, sorry about that.

Ron Maimon

Please vote Manishearth for no.2. I will change my vote.

Manishearth

4:17 PM

@GraceNote Ah, I don't mind :P

Ron Maimon

Everyone needs to vote in one voice, so that the Larien LeQuella's are outnumbered.

Grace Note

Might I ask the proper syllabic breaking of your name?

Ron Maimon

The reason I am repeating is because people are coming in all the time.

Colin McFaul

hi everyone

David Zaslavsky

@RonMaimon that's what we have transcripts for. You've made your point, you don't want Larian to be elected, please stop pushing it.

2

Manishearth

4:18 PM

@GraceNote Muh-Neesh. The EArth is the English word "Earth" :)

Grace Note

Ah, gotcha. Ma nish earth.

Manishearth

:P

Don't worry, lots of people get confused over it :)

Grace Note

...do you accept "Manny"? ♪

Manishearth

No prob :P

Dylan Sabulsky

I have a few friends named Manish :)

Manishearth

4:19 PM

Cool :)

user54412

@Manishearth yeah I've been mispronouncing it in my mind. Now that I see where you're from it makes a bit more sense

David Zaslavsky

OK, so chat session... I have to be working while we're doing this, so I'll be only checking in occasionally, but does anyone have any interesting physics to discuss? Or some talk about the election is okay

Stack Exchange

1

Q: How do I change my vote?

I confused MKB for mbq, and voted for him ignorantly. You can't have an election without comments on the candidates, otherwise, you just get authority manipulating things behind the scenes. Anyway, I wanted to change my vote so that the order reads: Qmechanic Manishearth user1504

user54412

mmm, anyone heard about this ice on Mercury thing?

Antillar Maximus

My vote is for sale. I accept paypal. If you are writing a check, make sure it does not bounce.

Dylan Sabulsky

4:20 PM

exciting right!

David Zaslavsky

@ChrisWhite astronomy news is good too :-) Yep, it is exciting

Dylan Sabulsky

@AntillarMaximus, good man

David Zaslavsky

Makes sense, but still, who would have thought?

Dylan Sabulsky

I mean, they spend all this money on Mars to find water on Mercury :3

Grace Note

@ChrisWhite It probably doesn't help that in chat, it's cut off on some resolutions to "Manisheart".

user54412

4:21 PM

I'm still very skeptical, but I haven't read through all the papers

user54412

I mean, a large part of it is "high radar reflectivity -> ice"

Dylan Sabulsky

After reading the method, im not so skeptical honestly, but I feel you @ChrisWhite. Continue reading!

Manishearth

@ChrisWhite Interesting :)

user54412

but high radar reflectivity also implies plain old roughness

David Zaslavsky

From what I heard, they had a number of different signals that are all signatures of water

I haven't read the papers or anything either, though

user54412

4:23 PM

there's some IR stuff too

user54412

and a separate analysis that tries to argue for long-term stability of ice

Crazy Buddy

I'm happy that someone just started out the real "PHYSICS" chat session :D

user54412

i have to sit down and think about the thermal properties of the material

Dylan Sabulsky

@ChrisWhite I read something about neutron density or some other thing like that. Let me see if I can't find it again

user54412

i mean, it's not like huge swaths of the planet are in shadow

user54412

4:24 PM

so you expect that everything will generally be hot

John Rennie

Speaking of Mars, I always assumed that with no magnetosphere life on the surface would be impossible, but it's recently been claimed that the radiation flux under normal conditions is little different from Earth.

Antillar Maximus

@DylanSabulsky, I prefer to be direct. ;)

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Why do you need a magnetosphere? Protection from cosmic rays?

user54412

@JohnRennie yeah I heard that too - it's a very preliminary announcement though, right?

John Rennie

Though you'd still get an unacceptabl;e radiation dose when there was a big solar flare.

user54412

4:25 PM

@Manishearth solar particles

Dylan Sabulsky

@AntillarMaximus, I dont have any preferred candidate, but maybe a few others will donate from their physics PAC...

Manishearth

@ChrisWhite Ah :)

user54412

and I guess extra-solar cosmic rays

John Rennie

@Manishearth I think strictly speaking cosmic rays come from everywhere except the Sun, and it's the Sun that is the big danger. So the problem isn't cosmic rays but the Solar wind.

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Remember that life could still develop under those conditions. Just that the cells/whatnot would be much tougher

Antillar Maximus

4:27 PM

@DylanSabulsky, neither do I, but I see a business opportunity here...Would you like to be my first investor? $10 would suffice...:)

Manishearth

@JohnRennie Bleh, nomenclature. "Crazy particles from space"

:P

user54412

@Manishearth and much quicker evolving I guess

John Rennie

Presumably when liquid water was present the atmosphere would have been a lot thicker and a more effective screen.

Manishearth

True... We haven't been able to track Mars' atmosphere over time like we've done Earth yet, have we?

Dylan Sabulsky

@AntillarMaximus, I have no vested interest currently, but if I develop one, I'll come waving my cash

:P

user54412

4:29 PM

@Manishearth not really, but it presumably was a lot thicker during Mars's active volcanic phase

Manishearth

@ChrisWhite Ah

John Rennie

@Manishearth the alleged "historic discovery" rumours raised hopes, but it seems they were just a misunderstaning. Oh well.

Antillar Maximus

@DylanSabulsky, that is what I was hoping for. Ok, I'm off mate. London Chess classic is more interesting. Cheers!

Dylan Sabulsky

Joy, have a good one! Cheers

John Rennie

Also on an astronomical theme we have already discovered gravity waves but we don't know it yet: arxiv.org/abs/1211.4590

Oops, that should as "may have already discovered"

Manishearth

4:33 PM

@JohnRennie LIGO successful? PART-AY!

David Zaslavsky

Not LIGO, this is different

(right?)

user54412

@JohnRennie I can't believe I didn't notice that before, seeing as I know the authors

David Zaslavsky

It's about pulsar timing arrays, basically using a network of local pulsars to effectively create a giant telescope

John Rennie

I thought LIGO had been dismantled for a sensitivity increase

David Zaslavsky

@JohnRennie I think you might be right about that

Manishearth

4:34 PM

@JohnRennie What? :(

Oh, so they're putting it back together later? Yay :)

John Rennie

But anyway as David says the discovery, if it's there, will be in the pulsar timing data.

Manishearth

@DavidZaslavsky Seems like a new technique. Must read :)

John Rennie

We live in interesting times.

Apart of course from the LHC's stubborn refusal to discover anything beyond the standard model.

@ChrisWhite I got that off the Arxiv blog - technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv

Essential reading for the lazy amateur scientist :-)

user54412

@JohnRennie yeah, I should be spending more time keeping up on the arxiv, less on chats :P

David Zaslavsky

@Manishearth it's more low-profile than new, really

@JohnRennie there was the mysterious Y(4140)

user54412

4:38 PM

so pulsar timing already got the first exoplanet, now it's going to get the first gravity wave - huh

user54412

the things you can do with the universe's best clocks

John Rennie

@DavidZaslavsky Not my area, but I'm sure i've read that this is expected to be a bound state of existing particles rather than something really new ...

David Zaslavsky

@JohnRennie well, that is always the more likely option, but none of the predicted bound states of QCD occur at that mass. So it's an open question for now.

John Rennie

In the popular science world the theme seems to be "LHC fails to find this" or "LHC fails to find that". I confess to feeling a bit sorry for the poor old LHC.

People don't don't seem to appreaciate just how staggeringly well it's working

dmckee

It's the usual business...we've provided the theorists with fairly few new unexplained phenomena recently so they keep busy thinking up lots of different way to extend the old models. That gives us lots of ideas to shoot down when we do get a new machine...

Think of it as Duck Hunt.

user54412

4:45 PM

@DavidZaslavsky does that mean "the only things we've predicted are at other masses" or "the predictions say nothing is at that mass"?

David Zaslavsky

@ChrisWhite as I understand it, the standard model predicts nothing at that mass. And it's easy enough to categorize predicted particles, so it's not likely that the community would have just missed one outright.

user54412

@DavidZaslavsky I see. I just can't help but be reminded of the Hoyle state of C-12

user54412

@dmckee please keep the particle theorists busy - when they get bored they might start taking away more than their share of our (astronomers') resources to do their science

Stack Exchange

-2

Q: Where is the place for negative comments on candidates?

I have a negative comment to make about a candidate. Where is the appropriate place to post this today? Where does it go? Not a week ago. I checked the meta and the main a week ago, and I didn't see his name on the nominations list.

discussion support election

David Zaslavsky

@ChrisWhite it's a possibility, sure. Perhaps a more fundamental (lattice QCD) calculation will eventually be able to show some resonance at that mass.

Grace Note

4:53 PM

Why does Meta go into the page but not-meta is in the ticker?

Manishearth

@GraceNote Because meta is quiet (generally). Nonmeta would flood the page

Grace Note

Mmm. Thinking that meta would disrupt the flow if it was in the ticker as well?

Manishearth

@GraceNote Nah, otherwise meta would be even more invisible

Grace Note

Ah, gotcha.

David Zaslavsky

Well, I guess our chat is about over

user54412

4:57 PM

guess so

user54412

back to work

Crazy Buddy

Ok... last words are mine - BYE guys :-)

Grace Note

Take care! Nice to meet y'all for so short.

David Zaslavsky

@GraceNote thanks for stopping by!

Manishearth

@GraceNote Cya :)

David Zaslavsky

5:00 PM

And everyone else :-)

Grace Note

I'll actually be sticking around in here for some time.

Manishearth

kk, me too

Stack Exchange

7:56 PM

-2

Q: Would Larian LeQuella be a good moderator?

I would like to ask for open minded slow, questions and answers about whether Larian LeQuelia would make a good moderator for physics.stackexchange. I have an answer to contribute, and I will do so below. My answer is no, but this is for all people to discuss and vote, as a way of adding informed...

discussion

twistor59

8:38 PM

I'd no idea either. I was reading it as "Manis Hearth".

Oh just realised that part of the chat was 4 hours ago!

Stack Exchange

8:59 PM

0

Q: Why is the required reputation for moderator voting so low?

So I am shocked to see that anyone with 150 reputation can cast a vote for moderator elections. With the 100 rep bonus for linking another SE account, this is pretty much equivalent to allowing anyone at all to vote, and given how tiny the community is and how few users probably pay attention to...

discussion

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